Reports that firemen in San Diego were forced by their superiors to march in a gay pride parade is calling into question that city's commitment to the notion of religious liberty.

From World Net Daily:

Four firefighters are suing the city of San Diego for being forced by their superiors to attend the annual "Gay Pride" parade where they endured a barrage of sexual taunts and lewd gestures.

San Diego's fire chief, Tracy Jarman, is an open lesbian who called the July 21 parade a "fun event" in which "all employees are encouraged to participate."

But the firefighters said, unlike previous years, they were ordered into uniform to participate in the parade in their fire truck, despite their repeated protests.

The firefighters' legal counsel, the Thomas More Law Center, said the men were "left with the Hobson's choice of either violating their conscience or being disciplined for disobeying a direct order." ...

Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center argued the constitutional right to free speech also protects the right not to speak.

"These men should not have to explain to their families, friends and church congregations that their presence at a celebration of lewdness and obscenity in support of the homosexual agenda was because they were forced there by way of a direct order," he said. "This is a clear violation of their constitutional rights, and the city must be held accountable. It should never happen again to any city employee."

Jarman, the city fire chief, insisted when she was appointed that her homosexuality had never been an issue at the department.

But Thompson maintained the firefighters' ordeal was "another example of how radical homosexual activists in positions of authority force their agenda on unwilling citizens."

So much for "tolerance", huh? Here we have guys who risk their lives protecting the lives and property of others, and the city they work for can't see fit to grant a little "tolerance" for their religious views. Imagine they were themselves gay and being forced to march in some religious parade. Perish the thought! Why, that would be intolerant. What we really have is a case where radical homosexuals in positions of authority abuse that authority to help promote acceptance of their "lifestyle".

What's so often overlooked in our increasingly politically correct culture is that, for there to be true "tolerance", there also has to be tolerance for the views of the majority. Hopefully, the lawsuit that this has generated will result in some kind of precedent against such abuse of authority - not to mention religious liberty.